MAGISTRATE CALLS EVIDENCE 'THIN' IN SPY CASE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210018-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: December 24, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210018-4
WASHINGTON POST
24 December 1985
Evidence `Thin' in
Magistrate Calls Spy Case
Charges Against Stenographic Firm Employe May Be Dismissed, Prosecutors Warned
By Ruth Marcus
waabiaetoa Poet Staff writer
A federal magistrate yesterday
called the allegations against Randy
Miles Jeffries, the D.C. steno-
graphic company employe accused
of trying to deliver secret docu-
ments to the Soviet Union, "about
as thin an affidavit as it has been my
misfortune to see in recent years."
Unless the government presents
"a' lot more meat" at today's hear-
ing, U.S. Magistrate Jean F. Dwyer
warned, she might find that the
government has failed to show
"probable cause" for charging Jef-
fries with espionage.
Dwyer ordered Jeffries-the
12th person to be charged with es-
pionage in the United States this
year-held without bond pending a
hearing today.
The FBI affidavit filed in federal
court here yesterday said Jeffries,
26, smuggled a 200-page stack of
classified papers out of the firm ear-
lier this month and told a co-worker
he "knew where he could get good
money for the documents."
He told the co-worker that he
"needed to find a Russian to sell the
documents to," the affidavit said.
The affidavit also said that FBI
agents who searched Acme Report-
ing Co., where Jeffries was employ-
BY RICH UPSI-THE WASHINGTON POST
Spy suspect Randy Miles Jeffries leaves federal courthouse after hearing.
ed as a messenger, on Saturday
found numerous documents-most
of which were classified either "se-
cret" or "top secret" and "related to
the national defense"-ripped in
four pieces and placed in a plastic
trash can.
The affidavit described Jeffries'
activities helping destroy classified
documents at Acme on Dec. 14.
Later that day, Jeffries attempted
to deliver the documents to the So-
viet Military Office at 2552 Bel-
mont Rd. NW, according to an FBI
statement released after Jeffries'
arrest Friday night.
Among other things, Acme tran-
scribes closed hearings for the
House Armed Services Committee.
A source familiar with the investi-
gation said the documents were
transcripts of closed hearings of
that committee.
According to the affidavit by FBI
agent Michael Giglia, shortly before
his arrest Friday Jeffries told an
FBI undercover agent posing as a
Soviet official that he had already
delivered about 60 "sample pages"
of documents to the Soviets. He
said he had access to a bagful of
ripped-up documents and offered to
provide a "complete package" of
three intact documents-including
one classified "top secret"-for
$5,000, the affidavit said.
Jeffries' court-appointed lawyer,
G. Allen Dale, asked Dwyer to dis-
miss the charges against his client.
He said Jeffries "denies making those
statements" to the FBI, and said
that, even if he had, it was "just an
idle boast" unsubstantiated by any
evidence that Jeffries had, in fact,
given the documents to the Soviets.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney
Rhonda Fields said Jeffries told the
FBI undercover agent that he had
met twice with Soviet officials and
delivered portions of documents to
them.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210018-4
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210018-4
According to the affidavit, Jef-
fries, who lives at 143 Rhode Island
Ave. NW, told the undercover
agents posing as Soviets that he
would retrieve the classified doc-
uments and bring them back to the
downtown Holiday Inn room where
they were meeting.
"The FBI, in its zest apparently
to arrest this man, did not allow him
to deliver any documents," Dale
said.
The FBI affidavit stated that an-
other Acme employe told the FBI
that on Dec. 14 he was "assigned
the task of tearing up classified doc-
uments and throwing them away."
The employe said the documents
were classified "secret" and "top
secret" and "recalled that one was
'naval' and having to do with some-
thing 'strategic,' " the affidavit said.
The worker, who was not iden-
tified, told the agents that Jeffries
took his place tearing the docu-
ments and later told him he had
some of the papers, which had not
been torn up, hidden in the garage
of the building, at 1220 L St. NW.
"While the witness held the el-
evator door open ... Jeffries left
the elevator and shortly returned
with a stack of documents, approx-
imately 200 pages, which he hid
under his coat," the affidavit said.
"The witness stated that the doc-
uments were the same 'secret' and
'top secret' documents that he and
Jeffries had been ordered to tear up
earlier in the day."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504210018-4